There are questions we need to ask of candidates in the coming provincial election in Ontario. This is not to embarrass anyone. It is to challenge their thinking. It is about what they hope to do for those trapped on the margins of our society?
It is a simple question. Through no fault of their own, there are people who need our help in their day to day living. These people have a broad spectrum of needs. They might have Down Syndrome, intellectual disability or suffer from other limitations. Their needs range from living facilities such as the former Huronia facility in Orillia to group homes, to subsidized facilities and sheltered workshops. Their needs cover a wide range of services. They also need our help and compassion.
These people are currently being thrown on our streets. The sheltered workshops that used to provide many of them with some dignity and a little money have been shuttered and abandoned.
These fellow human beings need our understanding. Those with aging parents caring for them are just putting off the inevitable. Caring parents can no longer ask that a mentally-deficient daughter have her tubes tied.
Today, we are seeing more and more incompetent, pregnant and homeless young women on the streets. This is our society. Are we proud of it?
And as someone who has collected monies for many charities, we need to change our attitudes on charity. One of the problems is that men give mainly because they think they should. Women generally give because they care.
But charity cannot cope with all the problems. We need governments that care. And government is the sum of the individual members of the legislature. They have to be aware. They have to recognize that society has serious responsibilities. There is no magic wand to wave over the basic costs of being a caring and responsible government.
Politicians who rail against deficits and budgets are missing the point of government. Governance is caring for the needs of society. In Ontario, we spend the bulk of provincial funds on education and medical care. On top of that we have infrastructure, policing, the courts and services to our citizens.
Any politician promising to eliminate deficits and to provide tax cuts is usually a mindless ideologue with no concept of the responsibilities of office. These people have a hard time understanding the realities of the streets.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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